PENNSAUKEN – Residents will vote Tuesday on a $35.6 million plan to upgrade township schools as part of a districtwide restructuring.

The proposal calls for “significant” changes to every district facility, including new classrooms for an all-day pre-kindergarten program, creation of a magnet high school and demolition of an elementary school.

The plan includes $13.4 million in upgrades at Pennsauken High School, including a $6.3 million upgrade of athletic facilities.

Among other changes, the plan would add an all-purpose turf field, eight-lane track, lighting and expanded seating for the football stadium. The school also would add new tennis courts and a 13,500-square-foot fieldhouse.

The project also would install security vestibules — requiring visitors to pass through two sets of locked doors — at the entrance to each school. Elementary schools would add new doors and windows.

Multiple videos and other materials at the district’s website emphasize the project’s advantages, including creation of a community park at the current site of Longfellow Elementary School on the 1400 block of Forrest Avenue.

But the website offers fewer details about the tax impact of the project, which would receive $11 million in state aid.

A video describes the plan as “allocating almost $36 million for various initiatives while actually reducing school taxes for township households.”

A separate overview says school taxes are due to fall because the district is retiring debt from an earlier project. It indicates the existing debt has an annual tax impact of about $135 for an average home assessed at about $140,000.

If voters approve the plan, the district says, property taxes would decline by $11.06 per year for an average home. It does not specify the impact on taxes if voters reject the plan.

Superintendent Ronnie Tarchichi did not respond to multiple requests for more information on the project’s tax impact.

Pennsauken's school board is seeking voter approval for changes at Pennsauken High School and other facilities.(Photo: Courier-Post file photo)

The project, called Growing Pennsauken Schools, comes as the district is serving fewer students. Pennsauken's student population has dropped by almost 600 youngsters in the last six years and an additional decrease of almost 900 is expected by 2026, when enrollment is projected at 3,932 students.

“The decreasing enrollments provide opportunity for school realignment and improve future enrollments by the expansion of educational offerings,” says the district’s website.

It says Longfellow could close by September 2018. Roosevelt Elementary School could be converted one year later into a 200-student magnet high school with an emphasis on science and mathematics.

The expanded pre-K program will serve up to 300 students, according to the district. Those students will occupy newly built classrooms at five schools, it says.

Among other changes, the district’s elementary schools would serve youngsters in kindergarten through third grade, Pennsauken Intermediate School would hold grades four and five, and Phifer Middle School would hold sixth, seventh and eighth grades in separate wings.

Academic changes would include the addition of three science labs and six classrooms at the 1,300-student middle school, Pennsauken High would see improvements to its auditorium, library, locker rooms and gymnasium, as well as construction of a plumbing lab.